


On The Run

by bisexualreina



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Domestic Fox Mulder/Dana Scully, Emily Sim Lives, F/M, Family Fluff, Pregnant Dana Scully, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27627851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualreina/pseuds/bisexualreina
Summary: Emily wants to run away...
Relationships: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 16
Kudos: 57





	On The Run

Scully could barely move, her feet propped up onto the coffee table with mountains of pillows tucked in every curve of her body to try and ease the discomfort that was pulsating throughout her body as their son decided to take up residence for an extra week inside of her. Her eyes were fallen shut as she tried to nap off the exhaustion of the day, her daughter driving her to the brink of mental collapse as she struggled to comprehend the changes of her mother’s condition, and as to why she seemed less eager to play. She pressed the ice pack against her brow bone, trying to fight off the throbbing headache that was forming while Mulder was out, getting called in for some alien nonsense that Scully had no time to think about in the moment.

Emily was currently in time out, groveling angrily in her bedroom, the other guest room turned nursery covered in globs of paint that Mulder had left out on the plastic covered carpet. Finger and hand marks splaying over the walls, crib, and even bits of it getting to the carpet, it had been a paint explosion that seemed unfixable in the moment, bringing the mother to her wit’s end.

Upon seeing the mess Scully had tried her hardest to count to five, to gather every ounce of patience that was left in her weary body and mind to not completely lose her composure on the proud little girl who had recently discovered her love of coloring and art. The smell of paint filled the apartment and it covered her overalls, hair, and hands, causing Scully to open every window before scoop her daughter up with frustration, squeezing her eyes tightly shut before plopping her into the bathtub, scrubbing her clean of any toxic paint, biting down on her bottom lip as she struggled on her knees, her now massive stomach getting in the way of properly mothering.

She was rather impressed with her composure until she had dried the little girl and began dressing her, a fit now erupting as she noticed how unimpressed she was with her beloved artwork.

“Paint belongs on paper, not on the walls.” Scully reprimanded firmly, her frustration rising at the thought of starting over on the nursery while their son was ready at any moment, enough to send her over the edge, and throwing a toddler in the mix was just making the idea impossible in her mind. Her comment seemed to hurt the little girl, and she battled with the idea of just letting it go, or teaching her daughter not to hurl globs of paint at the wall, leaning towards the responsible latter.

“No crayons or finger painting today.” Scully huffed, thinking it be a reasonable punishment for the act committed, but her brain was too fried at this point to even think rationally. Her mind said one thing but her heart was all over the place, plagued with hormones and stress.

Her heart ached as she watched her daughter’s lip quiver at the lesson, noticing her mother’s cross mood, and the way she rubbed her hand up and down the side of her growing stomach in aggravation, making her burst into tears. Scully watched as she began to wail, the sheer pitch of it piercing her already pounding head.

“Em, I know you’re feeling some big things but please don’t yell so loud.” She requested, her voice wavering as she tried to dress her four year old for the second time that day. Emily hadn’t listened, just screaming louder as Scully fought with her, trying to pull the shirt over her head, her tiny frame thrashing with every emotion rushing through her tiny body. 

She flailed and wiggled, her arm managing to smack Scully’s shoulder, fingers scratching her face, and another limb or body part managing to hit her on the side of her stomach, causing her to gasp and scoot back, dropping the shirt to the floor in immediate panic. However, she felt no pain, and with a swift palm to her side she knew that the toddler had done no harm, just making tears of frustration well up in her own eyes.

“Emily stop! We do _not_ hit! You are now going to sit in here and think about what you’ve done, and why we don’t paint on walls. You wouldn’t like it if Mama came in here and ruined your walls, would you? So sit still so I can put your shirt on.” Scully found herself snapping, scolding her daughter into silence, her big blue eyes looking up at her in almost betrayal, allowing her mother to avert her eyes and hastily pull the purple shirt over her head.

Emily looked over in confusion, aware of the squabble that she had just had with her mother, but also unsure as to why Scully was gathering all of her books and toys to create the proper environment for a “time out”. 

“No reading time, sit here and think and then later we will have it.” Scully declared, shutting the door with a prompt thud before racing out of the bedroom with as much speed as her body allowed her, dumping the toys and books into the chair, pressing her forehead against the wall in frustration, allowing her own tears to fall. She hated seeing parents being so harsh with their children, yelling or scolding them for no good reason at all, her gentler approach working so far, but today felt like a mental marathon that she couldn’t seem to finish, no matter how slow and steady she took it.

That is how she found herself propped on the sofa while Mulder worked patiently in their son’s nursery, insisting that it was an easy fix, urging Scully to just try and relax upon his arrival. In her mind her time out seemed like sufficient time passed, but Mulder reported that Emily had busied herself in her room and to just let her be until she felt up to moving off of the sofa. 

Scully slid her hand up and down the peak of her stomach, the blue, silk material of the pajamas that she had changed into sliding easily against her skin. She so desperately wanted their little one to come, but also the idea of having two of these little ones to care for was enough to get her worked up into a full on spiral of anxiety, and convinced her that a few more weeks of discomfort wouldn’t be the end of the world.

The sun had set and dinner had been made and set on the table, but there was still no sign of Emily, just the sound of Mulder wandering in and out of her bedroom, soft murmurings coming from that end of the apartment. Scully just raised her eyebrow and struggled to pull herself into a more upright position, rolling forward to get herself off of the sofa.

She found herself waddling towards the purple bedroom, poking her head inside, watching her daughter gather her random belongings into a grocery bag that Mulder held out for her, his expression feigning seriousness as he nodded at her words.

“What are you two doing?” Scully questioned, trying her hardest to sound light enough to bring out the glimmer in her daughter’s eyes, but she also noticed that they had a similar redness to them, telling her that she had also been crying. She felt her chest tighten at the image, working her way into the bedroom, struggling to a squat that she could eventually use to tilt forward onto her knees with Mulder’s quick grip on her elbow.

“Emily is running away.” Mulder stated matter of factly, causing Scully’s breath to hitch, knowing logically that her partner wouldn’t let her get very far or in danger, but her daughter didn’t want to be in the house, to be with her. She was unsure of what to say, biting her lip painfully.

“You don’t have to, Emily.” Scully whispered, her hormones causing more tears to soak her eyes, refusing to fall, but Emily just shook her head and shoved her beloved stuffed koala bear into the bag, nodding at Mulder that she was ready. He simply squeezed her shoulder to assure her that he had the situation handled, but Scully was less than convinced, all of her worst fears coming true as she struggled back to her feet.

“Well, you have your money for your plane ticket,” Mulder checked, motioning towards the dirty nickel and handful of buttons in her hand, winking at Scully that she wasn’t getting far. “You have your things, maybe mama and daddy will just ship you the rest of your things once you get to your place?” He checked, the little girl nodding as he slipped her coat onto her tiny frame.

“Alrighty then, say goodbye to mama and brother.” He reminded, causing her to release a tiny huff before turning towards Scully, wrapping her arms around her knees, still squeezing tightly. Her tiny hands reached up as Mulder lifted her slightly for her hands to hug and peck Scully’s swollen bump.

“Emily, why don’t you tell mama why you’re running away?” Scully questioned once more, but Emily just quivered her bottom lip and shook her head at her mother, clinging to Mulder’s hand who was now dressed to get going.

_‘We’ll be back soon.’_ He mouthed, urging his partner not to worry, but he already knew that she was on the brink of tears, causing him to breathe deeply and place a kiss on her forehead before the little girl tugged her trembling hand on his.

Scully watched as they wandered into the living room, the front door opening and closing with a thud, leaving the apartment filled with warm May air and self loathing. Scully was trying to be rational, it was just a short outburst, but in the eyes of her daughter it had been much larger, and she was feeling things deeply, just as Scully did. She once again felt tears building in her eyes, now allowing herself to shed them in the privacy of her living room.

Slowly bending over to gather the tossed toys and books up from the chair that she had tiredly discarded earlier in the evening, stacking them into a neat bunch, piled more carefully onto the coffee table. A reminder to put them away after removing them from the spot that Emily so diligently kept them stowed. She didn’t regret reprimanding her toddler for her mistake, but she did regret the tone she took, the lack of patience, the hasty manner that she had dressed her, and the way she raised her voice. Just her relationship with her daughter lately had been enough to bring her to the brink of tears every night. How she wished she could cuddle her closer without the fear of her jumping too hard or elbowing her bump. She wished she could keep up and race after her at the pace she could before, her body wearing out faster than before. As much as she was overjoyed with the existence of her little boy, she feared for this new dynamic, and wished that she just had a little more time with her daughter.

Scully was sobbing now. She hated it and cursed the fact that she was so prone to it now, shuffling towards the tissue box to try and dry her eyes, trying her hardest to get her breathing under control. The twinge in her back caused her to groan and move back towards the sofa, sinking back slowly to try and comfortable again, the box of tissues resting on her belly as she sniffled in the silence.

She had half a mind to go and find her phone to call Mulder’s, but before she could linger on the thought for too long the front door began to unlock. Mulder had returned with their daughter in one arm, her belongings in the other. Scully hastily wiped her eyes to prevent the little girl from seeing her mother so distraught over everything. Mulder just whispered softly into the young girl’s ear, getting her to nod nervously as he smiled proudly at her, walking over to carefully set her on the sofa beside Scully, taking a seat in the chair across from the both of them.

“So Emily decided not to run away, she just realized that she was feeling some big feelings and realized that she was upset about earlier, and was a little scared from her fight with mommy.” Mulder narrated, nodding at Emily who agreed, Scully not taking her eyes off of her tiny daughter who still refused to take her eyes off of her lap.

“We also talked about how it isn’t right to go and paint on the walls without mama and daddy, and to always double check with us if she wants to help with fixing brother’s room. And that even when we have big feelings, that it’s not okay to hit anyone, especially mama or baby.” Mulder reminded, making Emily nod sadly, clearly aware that she had done something that she wasn’t supposed to do. The slight nod he gave their daughter caused her to look up at Scully with her own watery eyes, tired and tuckered out from her day.

“I’m sorry mama.” She croaked, the falling tears down her face causing Scully to immediately break and pull their little girl into her arms, no matter how difficult with the impeding barrier.

“Thank you for saying sorry. And mama is sorry for shouting earlier.” Scully cried, peppering her all over with kisses, her heart melting at the feeling of her tiny hands squeezing her tightly.

“I know mama has been kind of tired and grumpy lately, but it’s not because she’s mad at you, or that she doesn’t want to play with you.” Scully explained, trying to regain her composure before pulling her daughter off of her chest, setting her on the spot beside her, wrapping an arm around her so they could talk with less confusion.

“You know the baby in mama’s tummy?” She questioned, pointing towards the large expanse of her body, making Emily nod and stare down at it cautiously, unsure of how she felt about the object residing in her mother causing all of this.

“Well he is so so big, and mama gets tired, but she still loves playing and reading and all of that. She also still loves you so so much.” Scully explained, brushing her daughter’s tears away with her thumbs.

“Mama is also sorry for scaring you. She tries not to yell, but I guess I was feeling big emotions too.” She admitted, watching her daughter reach up and mirror her actions, brushing her unconsciously falling tears off of her cheeks with care. Scully couldn’t help but smile, gripping her chubby hands and kissing them warmly in her own, making the little girl release a bubbly giggle that she had missed all day.

Mulder just watched with a grin, both of his girls now as thick as thieves again, their daughter snuggling comfortably into Scully’s side, dosing off into her mother. He chuckled softly and got up, giving her elevated foot a squeeze before reaching to grab her, to allow Scully some time to finally consume her dinner that was waiting on the table. However she just shook her head and wrapped an arm around her tiny frame, the other rubbing the spot where he could visibly make out their son’s kicking foot.

“Just leave her.” She urged, making Mulder just shrug and wander to the kitchen to retrieve the frozen pizza she insisted on, only consuming that specific brand and toppings when her need for that hit. He gathered the plates from the cupboard and balanced it all while setting it up on the coffee table, sinking into the sofa beside the both of them, dragging her feet off of the table to rest on his lap.

“Now some for the tired mama over here.” He grinned carefully, passing her the plate that she eagerly took, consuming her pieces in almost record time, resting the plate on the spot of her stomach that Emily wasn’t resting her head against. Scully just sat in silence and watched Emily stir, passing her plate off to her partner before gathering the throw blanket from the back of the sofa, covering her with it, making sure that it wasn’t touching her warm body.

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over today. This whole being a parent thing is hard, I can’t imagine doing it while growing another one. She loves you and you’re doing amazing.” Mulder reminded, making a soft smile spread across Scully’s face.

“Then prove it and give me a foot rub.” She smirked, causing him to just raise an eyebrow and set all of the cleared dishes down before massaging the foot and leg in his lap.

“But thank you, you are the only person I’d want to do this with.” She admitted gratefully, her words genuine and exhausted. Mulder couldn’t help but grin at the sight before him, causing him to reach over and plant a kiss on each of them, finishing up on that tiny foot trying it’s hardest to kick it’s way into this world.

“It’s just you and me, Scully.”


End file.
